Echoes
by Egleriel
Summary: Set after Girl In The Fireplace. Rose evaluates her relationship with the Doctor and makes a drastic decision, forcing him to do the same. RoseTen. Finished.
1. Echoes

**Author's Note:** This is my first_ Doctor Who _fic, and I haven't written fanfiction in almost a year and a half - please be gentle! Also, this is partly inspired by the song _Make This Go On Forever_ by Snow Patrol, from the album _Eyes Open_ which is nowhere near as good as _Final Straw_. But anyway.

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**Echoes

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**

It was oddly quiet in the TARDIS. The Doctor leaned pensively against the console, staring at nothing. Rose was slumped against the wall in a room full of clothes. Mickey had sat beside her for a while, but he'd kept trying to hold her hand and she'd snapped at him. He'd gone off to sulk.

----------

_Oh, they'd be perfectly chatty if I wasn't here, _he thought bitterly. _God only knows what they talk about. No, nothing important in front of Mickey The Idiot. Nothing interesting in front of the bloody tin dog._

He'd been Rose's shoulder to cry on when the Doctor had abandoned them on the spaceship. He'd stayed. And as usual (from the sounds of things) the Doctor had gone running off to his heroics without a second thought for either of his Companions. It was what he'd done to Rose rather than any personal slight that made Mickey really angry: it was plain to see how Rose felt about him, and it was even plainer that she felt rejected.

Echoes of how Mickey had felt for the past year - longer. Constantly waiting for Rose, prepared to take any treatment in return for the slightest bit of affection. Now she was going through the exact same thing and Mickey had no way of comforting her without annoying her.

He'd always tolerated her disappearances, the mysteries, the constant feeling of inferiority and of being completely in the dark, because she still felt something - anything - for him. Most of all, he had known that she was happier with the Doctor than she could ever be with him. That was no longer true. But she would forgive him, in a way that she'd never forgive anyone else.

_It's not going to happen a second time, _he thought resolutely. _Rose is better than that._

----------

The only thing stopping Rose from crying was the fear that the Doctor would come up the stairs and find her, although in a small way she wanted to be found. She wanted to rage and scream at him and punish him for the five hours of hell he'd put her through on that ship and for the way she was feeling now. At the same time she wanted to hold him very close and make him promise never to do it again.

Most of all she wanted to know why he'd done it. What had been so captivating about Madame Du Pompadour for the Doctor to put her so far above Rose and Mickey? She'd been a right bitch when Rose had spoken to her. Rose couldn't believe that after defeating Daleks, and meeting trees, and being turned to stone, and queuing for chips behind a hyperintelligent shade of the colour blue (she'd begged the Doctor to let her look around a 22nd-century spaceport), she'd been made to feel like an ignorant child in front of an Earthbound Frenchwoman who was only known for who she'd slept with.

Worst of all, the Doctor had so clearly chosen Mme Du Pompadour over Rose. He'd rushed off to save her, even if it meant he never saw Rose again. That was what smarted. Had their time together really meant so little to him? He'd only been weith Mme Du Pompadour for a few minutes- but no. He'd said there was a faulty connection. Just how much time had passed for him on the other side of that fireplace? Rose sniffed sadly. Who knew what had gone on? She had so many questions, none of which she was sure she wanted to know the answer to.

Mickey had been fuming, once the shock had passed. Rose had shouted at him a few times to shut up, mostly because everything he was saying was true. When the Doctor finally came back she'd tried to act like it was nothing serious, as though she was just relieved. He never apologised. In fact, no sooner had he greeted Rose and Mickey than he'd rushed off back to "Reinette". First-name terms, already. He'd called out her name excitedly as he returned to that stupid, stupid fireplace; the syllables echoed round Rose's head even now.

Mickey, Mickey, poor Mickey. He'd never understand why she stayed with the Doctor. Mme Du Pompadour did. She'd hit the nail right on the head, she had. _"The Doctor is worth the monsters." _Even when, sometimes, he _was_ the monster. Poor Mickey, always left in the lurch. Poor Mickey, always blaming himself for his every misfortune. He'd lost his parents, he'd lost his Gran, he had - to some extent - lost Rose, although it pained her to admit it. She knew she treated him badly. She also knew that it could never be any other way.

What about _her_? Her dad was gone. She couldn't hold on to Mickey for much longer. The Doctor was the one man from whom she sought solace; now she seemed to be losing him, too.

----------

Yet another life ruined. What else could he have done? She was Madame Du Pompadour, he would never have pegged her as the type to become infatuated with the hero of the piece - let alone one she'd only met in childhood. _'The hero',_ he thought derisively. As though any of it had been admirable. He'd led her on, given her hope, then let her down inexcusably. The guilt pressed on him so strongly he felt as though he was being physically crushed.

And then there was Rose. He'd brought Mickey along not because of Sarah-Jane, and not because of Mickey himself, but for Rose. Cassandra had left a few of Rose's thoughts inside his head. _"You've been looking... you LIKE it..."_ Flattered and all though he was, he couldn't- there was no way... If Mickey was there he would serve as a distraction for Rose, just as he had in Cardiff.

Just thinking about it set the Doctor's gaze on the floor. The fact of the matter was that if Rose _had_ developed some sort of crush on him - or at least on his tenth form, which he had to admit was a serious improvement on a lot of the earlier ones - then it was best if it passed as quickly as possible. He was not a man prone to ignoring his emotions, but some things were best left unsaid. He couldn't guarantee that they would stay that way, not if Rose seemed to feel the same way.

He'd never forgive himself for what he'd done today. Such a rash decision, so thoughtless. Okay, so he was used to thinking on his feet but not when it hurt someone. He wished he could tell himself that he'd known all along there would be a loophole. He hadn't. If Mme Du Pompadour hadn't been so desperate to reunite with her imaginary friend then Rose and Mickey would have died on that ship in the 51st century. He would never do that again. _Never._

----------_  
_

The Doctor's reverie was broken by a footstep in the console room. He looked up sharply, ready to snap at the ubiquitous Mickey. It was Rose. His scowl softened into an expression of sympathy and apology, and he realised she was on the verge of tears. She opened her mouth a few times but seemed unable to get the words out.

The Doctor crossed the room quickly and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, "I'm so, so sorry."

"We thought you'd gone forever," she sobbed into his shoulder.

"I know. So did I. I'll never-"

Rose pulled back. "_Don't_ promise you'll never do it again," she said fiercely through the tears, "because you _will_, you can't help it. You have to help people no matter what the cost is. It's just... what you do. I knew that when I agreed to come along with you at Christmas."

"I will never leave you behind again. I should never have done that."

"No, you shouldn't have," she agreed, settling back into his embrace. "Don't forget about me, yeah?"

"Never."

"And I know you'd never've gone if she hadn't needed you." It was at this point that Rose noticed Reinette's crumpled letter lying on the TARDIS console. "What's that?"

The Doctor groaned internally. There was nothing to say.

"_My dear Doctor,_" Rose read aloud. The Doctor knew that voice she was using. It was bright and cheery and barely masked a seething rage. "_The path has never seemed more slow and yet I fear I am nearing its end. Reason tells me that you and I are unlikely to meet again, but I think I shall not listen to Reason. I have seen the world inside your head and know that all things are possible. Hurry though, my love, for my days grow short now and I am so very weak. Godspeed, my lonely angel._  
"Yep. Sounds like you made quite an impression on her.  
"Tell me, Doctor, exactly how long _was_ that party? You know, the one you were at when me and Mickey were being captured by clockwork monsters and almost having our organs harvested? A few hours? A few days? Long enough for her to start calling you her angel, anyway."

"Rose, I-"

"Take me home," she said firmly.

"Look, it's _really _not what you-"

"Take me home."

"You heard her," said Mickey indignantly from the doorway.

The Doctor had had enough and vented his frustration on Mickey, "Oh, stay out of it!"

"Don't talk to him like that!" snapped Rose.

Mickey seemed pleasantly surprised by her defence. "Yeah!" he said, emboldened. "You've been treating me like I'm nothing ever since we met, it's not fair-"

"Cool it, Mickey," said Rose. "Doctor?"

"What do you want me to say?" he asked simply.

"Preferably something along the lines of 'Powell Estate, 2006'," said Rose icily.

"Fine," said the Doctor. He messed about with a few instruments. "Fine! Nice knowing you! _Hope _you _enjoyed _the _ride_." He slapped a button on the console and the TARDIS lurched. "London, here we come."

For a brief moment as it jolted and shook, Rose found herself clutching the Doctor's hand to stay upright. She let go and would have crashed to the floor if he hadn't caught her again. He held her gaze as he did so, his meaning clear. The TARDIS stopped.

"So." Rose knew she was making a terrible mistake, but it was too late to go back now. "This is it then."

"It doesn't have to be," said the Doctor in a small voice.

"This is the way it's gotta be. I'm going back to where I'm loved."

The Doctor said nothing, turning instead to the TARDIS's central unit. He heard her go, without even a goodbye.

"Bye then, Doctor," said Mickey.

"What? Why are _you_ going?"

Mickey raised his eyebrows and spoke as though to a child. "I care more about Rose than about gallivanting round the universe, or whatever you'd call it. Goodbye." He closed the TARDIS door.

----------

Rose watched in floods of tears as the TARDIS faded into thin air, barely believing what she'd done.  
Mickey sighed, knowing he would never be able to fill the void the Doctor had left, but ready to try. He'd probably only make things worse.  
And the Doctor himself had no idea where he was going - he only knew that he didn't particularly care what happened next. The numbness had returned, and the voices of vanished Gallifrey, of the Daleks, of forgotten Reinette and all the others, all screamed at him. This time he had no-one to turn to.

* * *

_AN: So... what do you think so far? This is meant to be a two-parter but Part 1's turned out far longer than I intended... Um, for anyone who's interested, that song slots in right about here._ _Pleeeease R&R, if anything to discourage me from doing this sort of thing ever again. Thank you to the three people who've bothered reading this far. _;-) 


	2. Contemplation

A/N: A really big thank you to everyone who reviewed! Definitely a confidence-booster. :-D This one was meant to be a lot less wordy but oh well. On with the story.

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**Echoes - Part Two  
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For the second time that day, Rose had completely lost track of time. She had sobbed herself dry already, brushing aside her mother, and now curled foetally on the bed she had slept in for most of her life. The slightly grubby pink walls were covered by cuddly toys and posters, all so lovingly arranged at the time, all of which now seemed foreign and impersonal. This wasn't her life any more. This wasn't home any more. She felt hollow and drained and numb, without the energy or the motivation to even glance at her watch.

She could hear a low sussuration of voices in the next room. Mickey was there, she knew, talking to her mum. _Drinking tea,_ she thought viciously, _drinking tea while my world disintegrates_. Even the thought of tea was enough to make her lip tremble.  
_"Tea, that's all I needed! Good cup of tea!"  
_That's what he'd said when he'd regenerated, right before he saved them all. Again. Everything and anything made Rose think of the Doctor, and any thought of the Doctor made her want to cry. She loved him, she knew. She'd loved his Ninth form enough to risk her life for him. And then he'd changed, and it had all become confusing.

He'd deserted her, when Rose - when the entire Earth - had needed him the most. Then he'd suddenly reappeared to save the day, in the most dramatic possible fashion. She remembered quite vividly the moment when she'd known it was still her Doctor. He'd been fighting the leader of the Sycorax. He'd fallen, and the terror that took hold of Rose as the invader's sword fell towards him was far more than common compassion.  
But it wasn't exactly the same man. She had never loved the Ninth Doctor the way she loved the Tenth. It didn't seem possible, or right, that she should care so much for someone she'd known for such a short time... but then hadn't she moved on to Nine from Mickey in the exact same way?

Mickey. What would he expect from her now that the Doctor had left them? Probably a lot more than Rose was able to give. He, too, belonged to a previous life. She would never understand why the Doctor brought him along. _"I let you keep Mickey!"_ But she hadn't wanted him to come.  
Unless... unless he'd been trying to put her off? Rose thought of the incident on New Earth. The Doctor must've known. He must've been...  
He wasn't coming back.  
He didn't care.  
He didn't love her.  
She was foolish to have thought otherwise.

She dissolved back into tears.

----------

"_So_!" whispered Jackie Tyler, ushering an ashen-faced Mickey into the sitting room, "What happened? Where's the Doctor?" She suddenly stood very still and her heavily made-up eyes narrowed. "What's he done now?" she asked in a low, dangerous voice.

"He's gone."

"He's left her?"

Mickey didn't have the heart to be indignant: Jackie sounded completely mystified. And as Mickey knew (probably better than anyone), it was _always _The Doctor And Rose, Rose And The Doctor, and always had been.

"Yeah. They had a row, and Rose told him to bring her home, and he did. And now he's gone."

"But- but what did they fight about?" asked Jackie, still bewildered.

"Um... I'm not sure," lied Mickey. "You'd probably have to ask Rose about it." It wasn't his story to tell.

Jackie nodded. She thought she knew the answer to her next question, but wanted to hear Mickey say it anyway: "Why did _you _come back?"

"For Rose," he said simply.

Jackie smiled. "Always such a sweet boy. Even when you were a tot. I used to babysit you, right after your mum-"

"Yeah," interrupted Mickey, returning the smile sadly, "Yeah, you said."

"I'll go make you a cuppa, then, if you want to wait for Rose," said Jackie. "Probably best to leave her to herself for a while, though."

"Yeah. Yeah, that's probably best."

_Such a nice lad, _thought Jackie. _Much more considerate than that Doctor of hers. __First there was That Jimmy Stone__, now this.__ Why does she always go after men who treat her like dirt?  
Cos she's her mother's daughter. That's why._

And Mickey stood by the window, staring vacantly into the road below, ears unknowingly pricked for the engines of the TARDIS. He wasn't quite sure whether he wanted to hear them or not.

----------

She was gone. It was almost beyond comprehension.The TARDIS felt so empty without Rose. With a wan smile the Doctor realised that he'd got used to Mickey's presence, too. _He was right, too. I _did_ treat him badly,_ he thought with a regret that he was sure he would not have been capable of had Mickey actually been in the room. _He's not so bad. It's just because..._ The Doctor couldn't bring himself to think the words, but he knew that the only reason why he resented the boy was because - in theory at least - Rose was Mickey's girlfriend.

He'd followed this train of thought a thousand times before. It wouldn't work. It couldn't work. It could never work, with Rose. As he'd told her once before: she could spend the rest of her life with him - and he'd hoped upon hope that she would - but he couldn't spend the rest of his life with her. He'd sometimes contemplated that regeneration the Time Lords had forced on him, wondered if there was some way he could be recompensed, and pass it on to Rose, but it was useless: Gallifrey was gone, and now Rose was too. The Doctor had always been needed. Rose was the only one left who made him feel wanted.

The TARDIS seemed aware of her departure. Its lights had dimmed, its motion subdued: it seemed to be mourning her.

The Doctor wasn't entirely sure where they were. Somewhere in the Crab Nebula, sometime around 1200BC, beyond that he didn't really care. None of this would be happening if he'd just put that stupid letter into his pocket. He noticed that his glasses had fogged up. _Why am I still wearing these?_ he wondered.  
Obviously she wasn't angry because of the party - okay, she wasn't angry _just_ because of the party. She'd been hurt, and jealous, and he'd seen the betrayal in her eyes. She'd thought it hadn't been all one-sided. She'd thought it possible that he could love someone more than he loved her, although on the other hand what had he done to make her think otherwise? That was something else to kick himself for.

She couldn't feel the same way that he did: she hadn't loved him enough to stay.

He thought about going into the future, to see what would become of Rose without him. _Hang on. Who says she's gone forever? You'll have to go back for her. Obviously._ He'd- yeah! That was it. That was his chance. He'd allow some time for her to cool off a bit, then go back and...  
And what? Wait for her to fall into his arms as though nothing had happened? This was huge. There was only one thing that could bring her back to him. _The truth._

----------

"Hush, love... I'm sure he'll come back..."

"But it's been _hours_, mum! The TARDIS could bring him back here ten seconds after he dropped us off. He's gone for good. I've been so stupid."

Jackie Tyler stroked her daughter's hair and tried to soothe her. Mickey had gone home just in time for Rose to fling open the door and tell her mum what was wrong. Jackie couldn't pretend that she'd understood a lot of it. For one thing, a lot of it was very high-pitched and incomprehensible. She'd noticed that the same few things seemed to keep coming up: words to the effect of abandonment, and something that sounded vaguely French (always delivered menacingly and with venom), and the phrase "I've been so stupid".

There wasn't a lot that Jackie could say. At least when That Jimmy Stone had dumped Rose, Jackie could assure her that he'd be getting a visit from Mickey and his friends at the mechanic's. How could you punish a time-travelling alien anyway? Jackie grimly vowed to find out, if she ever saw that damn blue box again.

Without warning, Rose sat up very straight. She paused, then broke out of her mother's embrace and tore out of the room to the sitting room window. _Please,_ she prayed. _Please let this be real._ Mouth open and eyes wide, Jackie came out to join her.

"Do you hear it too, mum?"

Jackie nodded. Before their eyes, the TARDIS materialised in the street.

"Stay here." Jackie grabbed her daughter's arm as she turned to go.

"No, Rose. You let _him _come to _you_."

"Mum, this isn't like-"

"It's exactly the same. _You wait here_."

Rose nodded once, then sniffed and scurried off to the bathroom to wipe her eyes. Jackie watched as the door of the TARDIS opened. The Doctor stuck his head out and looked around. Then he came out of the TARDIS properly and shut the door. He crossed the road and the courtyard, and then vanished. A minute or so later came a knock on the door.

----------

"Will you get it or shall I?" asked Jackie.

Rose straightened her t-shirt in front of the mirror. "I'll get it. You stay out of the way."

* * *

A/N: Final part will be up later this evening. Again, sorry for the lack of action. That's all in Part Three. :-) Please correct any mistakes I've made with the canon, I haven't seen any of the pre-Tennant episodes.

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**SoapSudd: **random speckyness! (I love his Jarv-glasses too.)  
**fuzzywuzzywuzza: **I've been blaming Radiohead for getting me hooked on angst, what's your excuse? ;-)  
**aruora.grissom **and** silentseabreeze: **tbh I don't hate MDP, but you can see why Rose would... I thought she was interesting. 


	3. Reunion

A/N: So I was going to leave this till tomorrow but it looks like I'll get lynched if I do! I'm bound to hate this in the morning, so I'll come back and clean it up then.

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**Echoes**

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**

Standing before the door, her hand poised on the handle, Rose panicked. What the _hell_ was she going to say? She wanted to go back with him, her life was barely worth living otherwise - but how could she do that without seeming like a doormat? Her entire future depended on the next five minutes. It was daunting. And what was _he _going to say? Was he going to say anything at all or just wait for her to apologise? _Oh, well, only one way to find out..._ She took a deep breath and swung open the door. 

"Mickey." Her face fell.

"Still upset then," he said sympathetically. It wasn't a question.

"Mickey?" said Jackie disbelievingly. "But he was- I saw him-"

_He must've chickened out,_ thought Rose. _I'm not gonna let him._ She pushed past Mickey and tore off along the balcony, hoping to catch the Doctor before he left.

"But he was here, the Doctor was here," said Jackie, to the air in general. "Mickey, didn't you see the TARDIS out there?" Her eyes narrowed. "Are _you_ the Doctor? Have you gone changing your face again?"

"_No_, Jackie. And I didn't see the TARDIS either. Came in the back way."

"Oh. Did you... are those for Rose?"

Mickey looked glumly at the flowers in his hand. "Yeah. In theory."

"I'll go get some water for them."

_That's Jackie all over_, thought Mickey. _Always stay busy, never dwell on how miserable everything really is. She's completely right._

---------- 

Rose looked around desperately, glancing at everything and seeing nothing. She couldn't find the TARDIS. Which meant that he was gone. For good this time, she was sure. She brought her hands up to her face, praying that she wasn't going to have a full-on breakdown in the middle of the estate.

A hand softly came to rest on her shoulder.

"Come on, now," said a familiar voice. "It can't be _that_ bad, surely."

Rose turned round. "Doctor," she breathed, then threw her arms around him. She took in every inch of him: his rumpled hair, his big brown eyes, the shape of his nose, his worried expression, his trademark pinstripe suit with that odd swirly tie, his battered Converse stained with that stuff he'd poured into the clockwork droid (and which the droid had poured right back onto him). Realising the cliché, she noticed that there wasn't a single thing about him she would change.

"The one and only." As before, his voice was low and carried a kind of comforting sadness that Rose couldn't quite define. She would almost have preferred the brisk, jocular tone he usually spoke with. _No,_ she thought, _that would've ruined it._

"I shouldn't have left," she said, words slightly muffled by his brown coat. She shifted a little in his embrace, so that her head was turned towards him.

He looked straight down into her eyes. "I shouldn't have let you."

They stood like that for a little while. "D'you want to go for a walk?" said Rose.

"Yeah, all right."

They walked hand in hand, neither saying a word. There was so much to say, but neither of them wanted to break the silence. Once that happened, everything was going to change. In the end, it was the Doctor who spoke. They'd stopped on a railway bridge.

"And I _especially _shouldn't've let you get away with implying that you're not loved on the TARDIS. The thing practically started weeping when you left."

"How long were you gone?" asked Rose abruptly. "How long was it for you, I mean."

He leaned back against the railing. "Oh, I dunno. Six minutes? Six and a half? Why, how long was it here?"

"Three hours."

"Oh." This wasn't going the way he'd expected it to.

"When you say... 'loved'-" Rose began awkwardly. Her heart started beating very fast; she thought she knew what was coming next and barely dared to breathe in case the bubble burst and she found she was dreaming. 

The Doctor took her hands again and looked into her eyes. "I love you, Rose Tyler. I have for a very long time. _Probably_ always will. Sorry. You can shoot me down on that one, if you want, but don't you dare tell me you're not coming with me."

Rose smiled. "Wouldn't dream of it." She laughed a little. "Hardly the most romantic setting, is it? Railways, run-down buildings, piles of scrap metal..."

The Doctor was incredulous. "Is this how you always respond to declarations of undying love?"

"No..." She swung his hands a little. "I just imagined... I dunno, waterfalls and sunsets and stuff for when I said this to you: I love you, Doctor. Always have, always will. And no need to apologise."

He beamed, never breaking eye contact. "You have no idea how happy you've just made me."

She sighed. "Likewise."

They broke apart, taking a moment to absorb the last exchange.

"Shall we go back, then?" Rose suggested.

"And tell them what?"

She grinned. "That we've kissed-and-made-up, I suppose."

"Oooh, look at that," said the Doctor. "Miss 'waterfalls and sunsets' talking about _kissing_. Miss 'I practically molested the Doctor in a big sinister hospital' who was so worried about _setting _a moment ago! Wasn't the way I would've imagined it." He mumbled the last part.

Rose laughed in mock outrage. "I was _possessed_ at the time, if you recall! And what do you mean '_imagined_'?"

"Well, I'd hoped that the first time we kissed - other than for lifesaving reasons of course - would be... well, for one thing I'd hoped you would be in full control of your motor functions, and for another I thought it would be something we both wanted to do as opposed to neither of us, and C- hang on, was I even using letters-"

It was odd. Her cheeks were still tight from the drying of tears shed in her deepest misery and yet here she was, happier than she'd ever been, with the Doctor at her side rambling in his lovable way, letting his words wash over her but hearing every one.

"You know what?" Rose interrupted as they came back to the estate.

"What?"

"We haven't _actually_..."

And then she was standing on her tiptoes, with the Doctor stooped over her, finally, properly, kissing. He was only the third person she'd ever kissed. He was very good at it.  
Very different from Jimmy Stone. His kisses had been quick and always in front of his friends: always for show and as fickle as he was.  
Different from Mickey, too. Mickey was clumsy but sweet. The Doctor always knew exactly what he was doing, including exactly the right way to hold her. She could feel his two hearts beating. It was perfect.

----------

"And it's about time, too!" said Jackie fiercely as they came into the flat. "I saw you two out the window."

"Oh," said Rose meekly. She didn't like the idea that they'd been watched, but it didn't really matter.

"And as for _you_," Jackie rounded on the Doctor.

"I'm not going to promise not to hurt her."

Jackie was momentarily dumbfounded. "Th-"

"I would never ever _ever_ want to, and I'd never try, _that_ I can promise. But I can't promise that it won't happen, because I don't know what's in the future, no more than you do. Same way I can promise to always take care of her, but not that she'll always be safe. I'm not the sort of man who makes unkeepable promises."

"Well, I'd be-" she began.

"It's not a normal life, mum," said Rose. "He's right: he can't promise anything about the future. I knew that when all this started." She squeezed his hand. He squeezed back. "I love him, mum. You know that."

"Oh..." Jackie Tyler hugged her daughter. She finally understood. This man- this _alien_- meant at least as much to Rose now as Jackie did. Rose's home was any building he happened to be standing in. It was a feeling she recognised, and she hoped it ended better for her daughter than it had for her.

----------

Back in the TARDIS, Rose snuggled up to her Doctor. This would be the first time she slept in his bed. There had been nothing untoward, they'd just lain there, talking and talking.

"What about Mickey?" she sighed.

"What _about_ Mickey? Rose, he'll understand. I think he's always understood."

"Doesn't stop me from feeling guilty though. Well. Not guilty, really. Just... bad, for his sake."

"He's not coming with us."

"Wasn't suggesting it."

"Because it might get a bit awkward."

"Definitely."

"Are you ready to go to sleep yet?"

"Almost there."

"Same here. Goodnight then."

"I love you."

"I love you more."

"We're not going through this _again_, just go to sleep."

He didn't answer. In the darkness, Rose smiled to herself. It was probably the only time she'd ever get the last word in. She wouldn't have him any other way.

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**A/N: Sorry about the crap ending. I never know where to stop them. Hope you enjoyed it. Now time for _me _to sleep, wahey.  



End file.
